Light A Candle
by RikaRose
Summary: In a world where everything about wrestling is real except the storylines, Finn asks his friend Bayley to stand with him against Bray and his mysterious Sister Abigail. Bayley accepts, grateful to have a direction to go in after being sidelined by injury, but they get far more than they bargained for including a fake romance, the demon's interference, and feelings they can't ignore
1. Chapter 1

Important Author's Note: This is an alternate universe where the matches are real, the fighting is real, the characters are real (sometimes a little exaggerated, but still real), the storylines are the only thing that are scripted, and those can change to fit the outcome of the matches as well as the whim of the characters.

It had been so great to have Finn around again. She hadn't even realized how much she'd missed him over the last several months. She'd seen him back in December in London and they talked occasionally, mostly through text, but she'd forgotten how much she appreciated his quiet steady ways and silly sense of humor. His intense focus and organic connection to the fans meant he was an asset to the show as well, and she knew she wasn't the only one happy to have him back.

It had been almost a year since they'd seen each other for more than a few hours at a time, but prior to that they'd had no choice but to spend a lot of time together. They'd been the champions in NXT for the better part of a year. In the eyes of their fanbase they'd both been ready to move up before they'd even gained their respective championships, but someone had to carry the weight of NXT. Someone had to be the one to get butts in the seats so that the others who were still learning had a crowd to practice in front of. Bayley didn't think for a minute that she was the main draw, she knew Finn had a special kind of magic with the fans, but she liked to think that she at least had a little to do with it.

Their positions on top had given them a unique connection that no one else could share and they'd gotten fairly close. It had been bittersweet for both of them when they finally got what they'd wanted, him going up only a month before her. Unfortunately he'd received a devastating injury the night before her debut and they'd drifted apart some while she'd adjusted to life on the main roster and he'd dealt with the long road to recovery.

Things obviously weren't the same as they'd been in NXT, but after a few awkward stops and starts they'd found an even keel in their friendship again. They hung out occasionally, texted quite a bit, and met up for a meal or coffee every now and then when it worked out with their schedules. Everything had just felt better, just a little more right in her world to have him around again, and life was looking up until Nia had caused her shoulder separation and she'd been stuck on the shelf, miserable because she was missing out on Summerslam. She knew that by the time she was healed creative would have moved on, and the chance of her getting her shot at payback on Alexa or Nia was slim. She was afraid of where that was going to put her and she was stuck in a weird place mentally and emotionally.

Right before Summerslam though she was surprised with a creative direction that was completely unexpected. Finn had posted a really sweet 'thinking of you while you're hurt' post on Instagram, and the renewed interest in the romantic storyline they'd portrayed in NXT had sparked another idea that had led to them wanting her included in Finn's current fued with Bray Wyatt. Bray was one really weird dude who had always alluded to Sister Abigail and who she was, but had never even hinted at her actual introduction until now. Why now, why against Finn, no one knew, but the creative team wanted to make the most of it. She was the closest female wrestling connection he'd ever had in storylines up until this point, and with her already out of the women's division storylines, she was a perfect fit. They were hoping that by the time she would be okay to return Bray and his mercurial moods might have shifted in favor of Sister Abigail's introduction.

Creative was always hemmed in by the combination of match results and the whims of both the wrestlers and the boss, and they had to manage to weave a story through it all that kept the fans interested, so she knew nothing was ever guaranteed, but if it all worked out she would have months of storyline to work with when she got back, plus she would get to work with Finn again as well. Finn apparently had been the one who had suggested her for the role, and creative had agreed, but in return they wanted the two of them to also further the romance angle. In NXT they'd really only played it up at shows and a little for social media, but on the main roster the mass exposure meant they would have to be even more committed to it.

The thought of going all in on it made her nervous though. She'd been Finn's friend for a long time now, but she'd never had to deal with his alter ego. The long term trajectory of the storyline and the more serious romance angle would more than likely mean that she could avoid it no longer, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little scared of meeting the demon, not to mention she was not the kind of girl who could easily fake romantic emotions. Their NXT storyline had been very 'first crush' and cutesy, leagues away from the more adult romance they were being asked to portray this time.

After a long discussion between her, Finn and a few members of the creative team they roughed out the beginning of the storyline and her suspicions about her involvement with his alter ego were confirmed. To tie everything into their past experiences they were going to start with her portraying a fairly innocent schoolgirl type crush, at least until she met the demon. Finn made it clear that he thought that a connection with the demon was necessary if she was going to be taken seriously in his more supernatural battles with Bray. She agreed as long as they didn't stray too far from who she was. She could tell Finn had picked up on her nervousness. Throughout the meeting he kept trying to reassure her that he knew her and that he would never let them drag her into a storyline that went against her beliefs or her character.

Though he knew she was uncomfortable he missed the reason why, and she was actually pretty happy about that. She didn't want to admit to Finn that both meeting his demon and portraying herself to be in love with him made her nervous. The last thing she needed was for him to think she didn't trust him or even worse that she really had a crush on him. Either might make things awkward between them and now that they were committed to a long story that was the last thing they needed.

After the writers had left the meeting she and Finn sat there for a while longer hashing out details. He offered to handle the bulk of the work for social media and she teased him about being able to 'troll with the best of them.' He grinned at her and sheepishly admitted it was true. She marveled at the fact that they were stuck in this same storyline for the second time and Finn told her,

"Hey it worked last time. We gave the fans what they wanted and they loved us for it, that's all we're doing now."

"I know, I just didn't think they would ever want to revisit it after we left NXT."

He looked at her searching her face for something before he hesitantly asked,

"Are you okay with all of this?"

"Yeah I think so. It's just unexpected, and I guess I am a little nervous still. It's not NXT, it's going to be different, you know? It's going to be a lot more complicated than a few Instagram posts and cheesy segments."

"Yeah, but we can do it. If it makes you feel any better there isn't any one else I would have trusted with this. I pushed pretty hard for you to be the one they asked."

"Yeah of course it does. I understand too, I wouldn't be comfortable doing this with anyone else, and I do appreciate it. I was pretty down about what my prospects would be when I get back, and now I don't have to worry about it, so thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. We still have to deal with Bray and he is completely unpredictable."

...

The next night she knew Bray must have given his okay to her involvement because where he'd mostly ignored her before he now looked at her through the corner of his eye when he saw her and the slow smile he gave her made chills run up her spine. The fact that she was totally creeped out is probably what made her seek out Finn even earlier than she'd originally planned, but he hadn't minded. He commiserated with her over how eerie Bray was, introduced her to his circle including the brash, but affable Karl and the giant Luke, and welcomed her to spend her time with them anytime she wanted.

In fact, he decided that now was as good a time as any to start dropping hints on social media, and had Karl take a few pictures until they had one he liked. It was just a picture of them laughing at something, but she had to admit out of context it would certainly start a buzz. Within half an hour of him posting it, the social media guy came to find them to let them know that twitter was going just a little crazy over it.

They should have know that Bray had something up his sleeve, and Finn probably should have been a little more focused on the fact that he had a match with him that night. He'd taken the loss but even worse Bray had dumped blood all over him after the match, and Finn told her later that it wasn't just blood, it had something in it that made his skin burn. Finn said it had stung like acid when it first touched his skin though the effect had worn off before he'd even got to the back. She'd known as soon as she'd seen it on the monitors that he would be furious. He'd gone straight to the GM's office, not even bothering to clean up first. While he'd been in Kurt's office, a member of creative had rushed up to her and told her that they wanted her on camera waiting for him when he got out. They hadn't planned to start any on camera stuff yet, and she wasn't prepared at all, but knew she would just have to wing it. At the last second someone handed her a towel, and she stood there awkwardly. To his credit he hadn't even blinked in surprise to see her there.

The fact that she wasn't prepared may have even worked in her favor. She'd stumbled almost embarrassingly over asking if he was okay, easily portraying that she was nervous. She awkwardly handed him the towel.

"Oh, um, here. I thought you might need this."

"Thanks," he said as he turned to start walking to the locker rooms. She fell in step beside him and after a long pause she asked,

"You're going to have to bring him out again aren't you?"

"Bray may think he knows all about demons, but he's going to find out soon that he knows nothing. He's never met _my_ demon." His eyes had that dark brooding look she'd known was always lurking and it made something inside of her shiver, though whether it was with fear or anticipation she wasn't sure. They reached the men's locker room door, and he looked at her. "Thanks for the towel."

"Sure." She had a feeling that they would focus on her last so as soon as his back was turned she tried to look excited like a giddy school girl who'd just talked to her crush.

...

That night Finn texted her that he'd seen the playback and that she'd done an 'awesome job' and 'played it perfectly.' She tried not to think about the fact that the text had made her feel a bit too much like the girl with the crush that she was playing on screen.

She didn't get to see Finn again until that Saturday. She was planning on going with Sasha and Becky to see Takeover that night, but she got a text from Finn in the morning asking if she wanted to grab breakfast. She'd been out late the night before at the 2K18 VIP party and despite the fact that there had been no drinking involved she'd felt hungover. The work that she was putting into rehabbing the injury left her feeling drained all of the time. She was trying to text him to see if he would take a raincheck when she heard a knock at her door. She opened it up, bleary eyed, to see Finn standing there, practically bouncing on his toes. How he had any energy when she knew he'd been stretched thin as well with everything leading up to Summerslam, she didn't know.

They'd often been early morning coffee buddies because so many of their friends were not the early riser types and they were, but today she just didn't have it in her, so she wanted to kiss him when he produced two cups of coffee from behind his back.

"How's the shoulder?" he asked as he walked past her into her hotel room. She snatched a cup out of one hand and gave a muffled reply as she inhaled the hot liquid, and he laughed at her. She was out of the sling finally though she knew she would be wearing kinesio tape for the foreseeable future. She'd even had to wear it last night despite the fact that she'd been dressed up for once. She glanced over and realized said dress was still in a heap in the floor with the rest of her clothes from the day before. She couldn't even muster up the energy to be embarrassed about the mess of her hotel room. Finn wasn't the type to judge anyway, but even if he had been, right now she just didn't care.

"No seriously, how are you holding up?" he asked when she didn't say anything else. She smiled at his concern.

"I'm okay. Really tired, but it's healing slowly. I know now what you meant last winter about rehab being a full time job."

"No kidding, but I see you're out of the sling already. You'll be back before you know it, and be back to being tired for a whole different reason."

"I know, and I know you know exactly how it feels, but it's just disappointing. This was supposed to be my first Summerslam, and I'm sure I would have been able to get that title back."

"Yeah I know. Don't worry though, you'll still get it back, and at least this new direction with me and Bray will keep you out of the pack and in the spotlight in the meantime."

"True."

"So I know you've been nervous about the demon."

"I didn't say that."

"I know, but I told you I know you, we've been friends too long for me not to have eventually picked that up, so I wanted to give you fair warning."

"About what?"

"They've changed their minds about the segment you are going to do at Summerslam. They want you to have a run in with the demon."

"Already? Why are they escalating the timeline so much, and what about the scene they want me to do with Sasha?"

"Apparently the response they got from that picture I posted and the segment we did on Raw was much bigger than they expected, and they are cutting the scene with Sasha. It's going to be a little while before they will be able to do any kind of feud with you two anyway, so they think dropping any hints of tension can wait. Kurt let me know this morning, and I asked him if I could tell you."

"Okay," she replied unsure of what to say.

"I don't want you to be nervous about the demon, Bayley."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be."

"I know, and I'm not upset with you, I just want to figure out how to help you so you're not. You know I'm always there right? I created the demon. It's kind of like I'm riding shotgun, but I do have ultimate control in the end. If he tries to do anything I don't want him to do I can stop him."

"So what do they want us to do?"

"I think they are actually leaving the details up to us. They just want a scene where you meet the demon, and since he will conveniently be present tomorrow and they don't know when he will be again after that, they don't want to miss this chance. If you agree I think we can keep it simple. Since you were waiting on me at Raw, you can just do that again only instead of me that comes out it will be him."

"I guess that's fine, but I hate the idea of going into a segment on a show that big without a more detailed plan."

"I can't predict the demon. I have no idea what he will do, there's no way for me to plan beyond that, but I have a good feeling it won't be a problem. It doesn't have to be a long segment. As long as you can keep up the part you've been playing so far, and I know you can, it will take care of itself."

"If you're sure."

"I am, and I've never led us wrong before have I?"

"No, I guess not." He smiled at her.

"So I can tell you probably aren't feeling up to going out, and I would normally let you slide, but we kind of need to make an appearance together somewhere today, so any chance I can talk you into breakfast?"

"Why do we have to make an appearance together?"

"Creative requested. They want people buzzing again before tomorrow night."

"I guess since you brought coffee I can't really turn you down, but you are going to have to give me a little time to get cleaned up and feel human again."

"No problem. Do you want me to wait in the hotel lobby?"

"No you can hang hear. I can get cleaned up and dressed in the bathroom, just you know excuse the mess."

"Already excused, I'm sure my room looks pretty bad too."

"Yeah right. I've seen your apartment Finn. There is no way the OCD in you would let your room look like a tornado has blown through the way mine does right now."

"Okay, yeah you're right, but I was trying to make you feel better."

"I know, and I do appreciate it, but I'll live."

By the time she was feeling like a person again, Finn had dozed off on her bed. He'd sat right up when she said his name though, easily switching back into waking mode, a trait she knew was a product of having to catch sleep whenever possible throughout his career. They'd picked a place not far away, and walked there giving plenty of opportunities for them to be spotted together. By the time they'd sat down at the restaurant though they'd forgotten about the purpose of their mission, and simply enjoyed sharing a meal like they'd done so many times before. Afterwards they parted ways for the day, and made plans to see each other at the arena the next day.

...

Their breakfast had had the desired results. Twitter and Instagram blew up over the fan posted pictures of the two of them walking together. They'd been careful to walk a little closer together than they normally would have and that was all it had taken to really get the speculation going. Thankfully most of the other wrestlers hadn't bugged her about it, they were all more likely to assume that something like this was for a storyline.

The next day she only saw Finn briefly before the show. She and Sasha had arrived early planning on getting in a workout and avoiding the madhouse that the place would be in few hours. She'd been on her way in trailing behind Sasha when she saw him walking up as well. He'd stopped to give her a hug, greeting both of them and he'd walked with them until they parted to their respective locker rooms. He'd asked if she was ready, and Sasha had butted in asking what their segment would be. Sasha of course knew about their original segment being cut, but Bayley had kept pretty quiet on what she would be doing instead. The truth was she was still nervous and hadn't wanted to talk about it with anyone, even Sasha.

Finn filled her in and Sasha had given her a long searching look. Sasha could probably read her better than anyone besides Mella, so she knew she would be in for an inquisition later. She knew she probably should have told her. Sasha would read more into the fact that she hadn't said anything than if she had just told her in the first place.

After they parted ways she tried to avoid Sasha's gaze, and it wouldn't have worked if it hadn't been for the fact that they were interrupted by a member of creative. He wanted to know since she was there already if she would sit in on a meeting they were doing to fine tune details and talk long term planning for their post Summerslam storyline. Finn of course couldn't attend since he would be tied up with the long process of his transformation to the demon, but she wasn't needed for quite a while. It hadn't really been in her plans for the day, but she knew that any time creative invited you to be involved in their process that you didn't turn it down, so she followed him and inadvertently escaped Sasha at the same time.

By the time she got out of the meeting it was almost time for the show to start, and everyone was in showtime mode. Even those who were normally pretty loose before a show were keyed up, after all this was the second biggest show of the year. With everything going on around her the time passed quickly, and she was surprised when she was told it was almost time for her part. She'd already been through makeup and she'd decided to wear one of the original black 'Boss' tees to help support her friend and to go with a slightly darker look instead of her usual bright 'Bayley' colors for her segment with the demon.

She was directed to where they wanted her to stand and she'd had to channel the nervous school girl again. Even though she was expecting the demon, he still took her breath away and she let out a breathless 'oh' when he stepped out. He'd stared at her, his eyes burning right through her, and the lights flashed red to the deep echo of a heartbeat. She knew the lights and sound effect had not been a planned part of the production, and that alone would have sent shivers up her spine, but the way he held her gaze with his caused a deep throb inside of her. She was mesmerized, unable to look away. She felt like prey paralyzed by the predator. She didn't snap out of it until she was standing there staring at his back as he got further away having never even realized he'd moved in the first place. She'd had to catch her breath as she stood there and trembled.

She couldn't decide if the whole scene had been reassuring or not. Finn had obviously been right. They hadn't had to say a word, the segment had taken care of itself, but at the same time she wasn't any more secure or any less nervous about future encounters with the demon.

...

Afterwards she found Sasha to congratulate her. She was happy her friend at least got the chance to give Alexa a little of her own medicine. Sasha was on cloud nine, it was her fourth title win and she deserved it. She wasn't sure what that meant in terms of creative and the story they were telling with the title, since she wouldn't be competing with most of the women for a while she hadn't been told about the direction they were going in, but she really hoped they would come up with something compelling for her friend. Alexa wasn't the easiest to work with, and she remembered how much trouble both she and creative had had getting Alexa to agree with anything both interesting and logical unless it put her firmly in the spotlight at all times.

Sasha would be tied up with media for most of the night so she let her friend get back to work and went to find a quiet spot to watch Finn's match. It was no surprise that the demon completely flattened Bray, though she had a bad feeling about what that would mean for Finn's future. Bray was the obsessive type, he wasn't going to let this go that easily. Of course she knew Finn knew that as much as he would love to move back into the title picture, he wouldn't be free of Bray that easily, after all that was why Finn had suggested her inclusion. Eventually Bray was going to pull out his trump card to try and turn the tables on Finn. Bray had lost to many over the years and it always seemed to roll off of his back, but he'd been different with Finn, perhaps because Finn was the first one to be able to compete with both the physical and the mythical. No one expected sweet innocent Bayley to be able to compete in that world which is probably why Bray had looked almost triumphant when Finn had chosen her as his counterpart to Sister Abigail. Even Bayley wasn't sure how Finn expected her to counteract the supernatural elements involved, but she trusted Finn. He wouldn't have asked for her if he didn't think she could do it.

Once she was released she headed back to her hotel, planning to crash for the night. It had a been a long week, and she was ready to catch up on sleep. She was officially off of TV until her shoulder was healed, which was both a relief because now she could put all of her focus on getting better, and disappointing. You always wanted to be on TV if at all possible, time away sometimes helped, but too easily could be detrimental, and she couldn't imagine going home right now and how she would have felt if she hadn't known that she had something to come back into. Right before she crashed for the night she shot Finn a text to tell him congratulations. He sent her back a thanks and knowing she was flying out tomorrow and they probably wouldn't see each other for awhile he made her promise that she would call and keep him updated on her progress.


	2. Chapter 2

Rehab was hard and boring. She could truly appreciate what Finn had gone through last year now. If it hadn't been for him and Sasha she probably would have lost her mind over the last few weeks. In fact she almost felt guilty for how great Finn had been about keeping in touch and supporting her. She hadn't been nearly as attentive to him when he'd been out of commission. She'd cared about how he was doing of course, but she'd also been coping with all of the changes that came with being on the main roster, and he'd pulled away from everyone for a little while right after it happened. She had to admit it felt like she and Finn were closer now than they had been in a very long time, and a lot of that was because of him.

He'd kept her distracted from the pain and exhaustion with frequent calls where they'd both vented their frustrations. He was fed up with Bray and his tendency to keep his opponent looping around in circles in nonsensical promos and endless mind games. She was bored at home by herself. Her whole world was wrapped up in her job, her closest friends all other wrestlers. He'd kept her up to date on what was going on backstage, offering a very different perspective than Sasha, and distracted her with silly anecdotes from life on the road.

They'd thrown around various ideas for what they could do story-wise with their characters, and she'd let him know she'd worked on new ring gear that would fit better with his. He'd been very pleased when he'd heard that and had wanted to see it right away but she wanted it to be a surprise so she'd denied him. He'd jokingly pouted about it, and she could tell he really was excited to see it. She was glad there had been no one around to tease her because she'd felt like every time she got off the phone with him she was grinning from ear to ear, and she really didn't want to analyze or think to hard about why that was.

She finally received the go ahead to return in September which happened to coincide with the tour dates along the west coast. She was excited to see all of her friends again, especially Finn and Sasha. Finn was itching to get going with her part in his feud and he'd let her know creative was pressuring him to get people talking again about what was going on between the two of them. She'd also been contacted by creative in her preparation to return and they'd reiterated what Finn told her. Things had died down while she'd been gone and they were counting on the romance angle to help fuel the interest in her involvement with Finn's feud. The association with Finn right after she'd gotten hurt had helped improve the fans perception of her after the nasty losses she'd taken to Alexa, so it was in the best interest of everyone (according to creative at least) that they made it both believable and intriguing. Of course how they were supposed to accomplish that was up to them.

The extra pressure certainly didn't help with her anxiety over the whole situation, but she tried not to let it show to either Finn or the creative team. She knew that now that they'd committed to it that it was too important for her to wimp out, and not just for her career, Finn would be left to handle Bray and whoever else he chose by himself if she abandoned him now.

She would be returning to the live events a week before she would appear back on TV, and Finn flew out a day early that week, sacrificing his day off so that they could find a way to fulfill creative's wishes regarding the romance angle. They were going to drive together to the first city on the tour where they would be picking up Sasha. Sasha planned to ride with them for the rest of the week's tour dates which would then culminate back in San Jose where Bayley would make her return to Raw.

When she picked Finn up at the airport she'd been so happy to see him, and she'd immediately rushed to hug him, remembering that one of the perks of being involved in a romantic story with him was that they could be openly affectionate without having to worry about who would see and misinterpret, in fact that's exactly what they wanted to happen. For a moment she just let herself enjoy being wrapped in his arms, inhaling his clean scent, a mixture of fabric softener, the faint hint of cologne, and something that was pure Finn. Once again, she ignored the fact that she enjoyed it way more than she probably should have.

On their way out they were recognized by fans and had to stop and sign and take pictures for a few minutes, which neither minded. It was mostly kids who were sweet and enthusiastic about meeting their heroes, and both particularly loved meeting the younger fans since they'd started out as very young fans themselves. One older fan did ask them if they were dating, a question they used to receive regularly when they'd toured with NXT, but hadn't in a long time. She really should have expected it, but it took her by surprise and she stood there gaping at him, not answering for a moment before Finn rescued her and told the guy that they were 'really good friends.' She felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment at her freeze-up, but once they were in the car and she brought it up Finn reassured her that it had gone well anyway.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to freeze up there, it's just been a while since anyone's asked me that and it never stops being weird to me."

"No worries, the fans are always going to want to know about our lives, it's human nature."

"I know, and I should have been ready for it. I know that's the whole point of what we are doing here."

"Actually I think the blush added a nice touch. That guy didn't believe for a second that I was telling the truth," he said grinning at her. She felt her cheeks warm a little again at his subtle teasing, but she continued anyway,

"Yeah, it's just weird knowing that we don't want him to believe us, even in NXT we were allowed to say in interviews that it was just on-screen."

"It is a little weird, but there's no one I'd rather be in a fake relationship with then you," he said still smiling. She smiled back at him. He was right, if she had to pretend feelings for someone it was a lot easier with someone who was already a good friend, someone who she could laugh with over any awkwardness that came out of it. He continued,

"They kept emphasizing that they want it to be intriguing, and I think we can do that if we never actually give them an answer one way or another. We can keep dropping hints, but sidestep when we get asked out right like we did there."

"Keep people guessing instead of expecting. I like it. How long do you think that will work?"

"I don't know, but for a little while at least. It also depends on where they go with storyline stuff too, and whatever Bray throws at us, but we can play it by ear and figure it out as we go."

They were quiet for a little while both lost in thought before she gathered up the courage to ask about something that had been on her mind.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"The demon, do you talk to him or I don't know, does he have awareness?"

"Sort of. Like I said, I'm always there when he has control, he's a part of me, but at the same time, yes he does have his own awareness and yeah I guess we can talk to each other, but it's not really like you and I have a conversation. It's more like I just know what he wants and vice versa."

"Oh, okay."

"I'm glad you're interested, but is there a reason why you're asking?"

"I was just wandering what he thought of all of this." She was surprised when she looked at him to see that he looked a little uncomfortable, and he hesitated before answering,

"The demon is very instinctual, he thrives on really strong emotions, but real world complications like a fake relationship are outside of his comprehension." The answer made sense, so she wondered what had made him hesitate. After he answered he changed the subject, suggesting they grab lunch before they hit the road, and she never got the chance to dig deeper.

...

The following week was soothing to her soul. To be able to to spend a whole week with two out of three of her favorite people was amazing and it felt like life was making up for the unfortunate timing of her injury. Sasha and Finn weren't as close as she and Finn, but they'd always gotten on well, and though the three had never shared a car together before, they found that they all enjoyed it. Finn was quieter and more subdued then any of the guys that she and Sasha normally rode with, which in a way was nice for a change, and despite the fact that all three had varying tastes in music they managed to find stuff to listen to that they could all tolerate. Finn was up for whatever she and Sasha wanted to do as far as exploring locally, and they all enjoyed finding the best places for coffee or food. She was used to being ganged up on by friends who knew how easy it was to tease her, but it was a whole new ballgame with Sasha and Finn because they both knew her way to well. Even their teasing was welcome though after weeks without their companionship.

It was the night before Raw and she and Sasha were hanging out in her hotel room having said goodnight to Finn a little while earlier, when Sasha said,

"You can't run from this conversation forever you know,

"What conversation?" she asked.

"You know what I'm talking about. You like him."

"Of course I like him."

"Come on, I'm not stupid Bayley. You light up like a Christmas tree when he's around. You more than like him."

"It's not like that. He's my friend, best friend really after you and Carmella, and he's been really good to me since I got hurt."

"Okay I can't tell if you are being deliberately obtuse or if you really are that oblivious, but from what I see he makes you happier than I've ever seen you, and I gotta say, he seems pretty damn happy to be around you too."

"We fit, and well, that's awesome. He kept me sane while I was rehabbing my shoulder, and now we are going to be involved in a storyline for the foreseeable future, so we've gotten even closer, but that's it."

"Yeah, and the whole world has to think you are in love with each other, but then I don't think that's going to be to difficult to manage since I think it's not that far from the truth."

"We're not in love with each other. We're just friends, and it really _can't_ be more that that. We both have a lot riding on this."

"Yeah, well you can't stop feelings just because they shouldn't happen."

"I love you Sash, but seriously you're seeing things that aren't there."

"Look, I'll let you keep your delusions for now, but I don't want you to get hurt and I think if you ignore this indefinitely you will regret it. Eventually you are going to have to face it."

True to her word Sasha changed the subject after that and didn't mention it again, which she was thankful for.

...

It was gratifying to return in her hometown, the crowd's appreciation a welcome reminder of what she'd been working so hard for, and to be able to help Sasha out was nice too. The two of them didn't even have to talk in the ring they could read each other so well, and whether they were fighting against each other or with each other didn't matter. They had a chemistry that was rare and they generally brought out the best in each other.

She was surprised when she was added to the women's match at No Mercy knowing that they had other plans for her, but she didn't complain. A title shot was a title shot, you never turned one down. She knew her chances at winning were slim. She was still adjusting to being back in the ring and wasn't at her best yet, so she wasn't surprised when she didn't. Sasha had actually saved her from being the one to take the pin at one point, but unfortunately neither were fast enough to keep Alexa from pinning Emma while she was down. She knew it was an even bigger disappointment for Sasha since it was technically her rematch for the title, but even if she hadn't expected to win she hated that Alexa had retained, and could only hope she would get her comeuppance once Asuka debuted. She was all to familiar with how lethal Asuka was, and she almost looked forward to her taking Alexa down a peg or two.

The next night on Raw she tagged with Sasha in a short, fun match. The pay-per-view match had at least done one thing which was to mentally loosen her up in the ring. She felt like she had her head back in the game now that she'd had a real competitive match under her belt. Finn had a match with Golddust right after her match, and of course, Bray pulled one of his creepy tricks at the end letting Finn know that they were far from finished. She knew that even though Finn had been anticipating it, he would still be pissed. She also knew that this was her cue to finally move completely into their story line.

The cameras were rolling when Finn got to the back and she was waiting, standing by. She could see his emotions written all over his face, he was frustrated and fed up with Bray's backhanded way of handling things, and as he passed she reached out and laid her hand on his arm. He stopped before her and stared at her for a moment, neither needing to say a word. She knew how he felt, he knew she was ready to help in whatever way he needed. He nodded to her and then kept going. She stood there for a moment lost in thought, forgetting about the cameras before she snapped out of it and moved on.

...

The creative team were very pleased with the segment they'd filmed of them after the match, which Bayley thought was a little funny. She and Finn hadn't really been playing it up for the cameras. It had been their real emotions, their friendship and the understanding between them on display, but apparently they'd thought it had worked well with furthering the romance angle and transitioning her into his feud. They were encouraged to continue doing the extra appearances together, and their media and charity work had been rearranged as much as possible for the two to appear together. Since they had to be in the same place at the same time so much it was easier to continue to travel with Finn which really wasn't a hardship. She got used to hearing the 'are you dating' question again and didn't freeze up anymore when she heard it. She followed Finn's lead and always deflected. So far it had worked well, though she had a hunch that with an actual journalist they might find it a little more difficult.

The next week she featured in a scene with the women's division where the rest of the women were arguing with Kurt over who would get the first shot at Asuka. She got to the play the part of the seasoned veteran who knew better. She told Kurt that she would never back down from a fight, but she didn't need to test herself against Asuka. She already respected the Japanese wrestler and her hard hitting style. He looked at her like he respected her a little more for being willing to say it, then made a fatal fourway for the others to decide Asuka's opponent at TLC.

Later that night Finn went out to the ring to address Bray Wyatt. He'd told her before hand that he was happy they were allowing him the chance to do something. She knew he was tired of going in circles with Bray and though he didn't yet know what it was that would trigger enough desperation from Bray to get him to start moving forward, he planned to start 'poking the bear' so to speak to try and figure it out. As it turned out though Finn didn't need to antagonize Bray.

While Finn was in the ring speaking the lights went out, disturbing images flashed quickly on the titantron before the lights came back up and in the corner of the ring was an almost ghost-like figure crawling, bent over backwards, and eerily cackling. She was pale skinned, draped in ragged, filmy fabric, with stringy, dark hair trailing on the ground. Finn was distracted enough that he didn't see Bray appear behind him.

Bayley wasn't sure what had compelled her to be so close. She'd felt the need to watch Finn's promo from ringside so she'd changed out of her ring gear into black leggings and had borrowed a black zip up hoodie from one of the production assistants. She'd snuck out with some of the ring crew before Finn had made his entrance and she was thankful for whatever instinct had made her do so.

When she saw what was happening she rushed forward, rolled into the ring, and practically plowed into Finn. Both of them hit the canvas roughly though it was a lot better than the sneak attack he would have suffered at Bray's hands, and Finn who was now snapped out of whatever trance the creepy duo had put him in, wrapped his arms around her and rolled them the rest of the way out of the ring in time to avoid a second attempt at an assault. When they hit the floor the hood that had until now concealed her identity fell off and she heard the crowds mixed reaction of surprise, delight, and confusion.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up, dragging her with him up the ramp until they were far enough away to be able to catch their breath. Bray stood in the middle of the ring grinning maniacally, his counterpart stood behind him her long hair blocking most of her face though one dark eye and a partial creepy grin could be viewed as she swayed and danced to a rhythm all her own. Bray started laughing, seemingly amused at their thwarting of his plans, as his music played. They continued to stand united at the top of the ramp, not backing down or looking away until a cameraman prompted them to leave after they'd gone to commercial.

They stood just outside of gorilla both still catching their breaths. They knew that the cameras were on them, but didn't even realize they'd come back from commercial already when Finn asked,

"How did you know?"

"I didn't. I don't know. Just something felt like I needed to be there."

"That was...you're amazing you know that?" he said then he pulled her into a quick fierce hug, "Thank you."

She felt her whole face flush at the unexpected praise, her heart pounding, "Um, thanks, and you're welcome," he only released her partially standing with his arm loosely around her waist. He didn't seem to notice how close they still were as he continued,

"You know you won't be able to escape them now. You're a part of this now, for better or worse."

"I know, but I couldn't just let them ambush you like that. It's not like I want either one of them anywhere near me, and I don't know how I'm going to fend them off now that the element of surprise is gone. I don't have a demon like you do."

"Well for one I'm not going to abandon you, so it isn't just you fighting them off, and we've always made a good team. Besides the demon saw something in you. I have a feeling you will find what it is you need inside of you when the time comes."

"He did?"

"We've always known there was more to you than hugs and ponytails Bayley, maybe it's time the rest of the world sees it too."

She wasn't sure what to say to that, she could tell he was earnest, he wasn't just speaking for the cameras and his faith in her made her feel elated, overwhelmed, and so much more. She looked up to realize that they must of wrapped up filming them as the cameramen had moved on. Finn finally released her though he remained close and walked with her back towards the locker rooms. She looked at him and decided to to tell him,

"I think it's time for me to pull out the new gear." He looked up when she said it and his face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. She couldn't help but think it was adorable.

"Really? Will I get to see it beforehand or are you going to make me wait until you're on camera?"

"I'm not sure. We'll see. It depends on what they want to do with the script for next week, but I might just keep you hanging," she said almost flirtatiously before she could catch herself. She expected him to be a bit taken aback, she never purposely flirted with him, but instead he looked her up and down like he was trying to picture it in his mind and his voice deepened as he said,

"I can't wait." The look in his eyes made her shiver and a spark ignited in her belly. As they parted ways she couldn't get the thought out of her mind that she was fucked because Sasha had been right. They might not be in love with each other, but the ache, the want that she'd felt as he looked her over was definitely not something you felt for someone who was just a friend.


	3. Chapter 3

If Finn had listened to Sami he would have asked Bayley out two years ago. At the time he wasn't planning on dating anyone. He'd just made it to the WWE, and once he'd got there he hadn't wanted any kind of distraction, which is why he probably shouldn't have admitted to Sami that he thought she was beautiful. Sami, Finn and a few of the other guys had been talking in the locker room one night and somehow the subject of the women they worked with had come up. The conversation devolved into a discussion of which of the women they each thought was the hottest and which of the women was their favorite to hang out with. He'd been surprised that he hadn't really agreed with any of them. Yeah all of the women they worked with were beautiful in different ways, but if he was honest he preferred girls who were more sweet and wholesome than the outrageous or more sophisticated types the others seemed to favor. When prompted he'd admitted that Bayley was more his ideal than the ones they'd named and after that Sami hadn't let him live it down. Sami hadn't understood why if he liked her so much and he found her attractive why he'd never asked her out, especially as time passed and he became much better friends with her.

In fact, being friends with her had only made it even more clear that if he _had_ been looking for someone that she was exactly what he would have chosen. She was one of those people who was always a joy to be around, and they always had fun together whether they were working or hanging out. She was just as sweet as he'd initially thought, but she also wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She had a bit of a tomboyish side and was the type of girl who was just as comfortable hanging out with a group of guys as she was with other girls. She was easy to tease and making her blush was a lot of fun, but she would also give as good as she got, and yeah, she was beautiful. The dark hair, gorgeous smile, long tan legs-it would have been easy to fall for her if he'd let himself go there. He wouldn't let himself even think about it though, and instead he was content to have her as a friend.

Eventually Sami stopped bugging him about it and life moved on. He and Bayley had an amazing year together as champions and even had a romantic storyline onscreen. Then last summer life had taken a bit of a turn on him. He'd been injured a few times in his career, but never that bad and it couldn't have happened at a worse possible moment. He'd made it to the final match for the Universal Championship and he'd just known that he and the demon weren't going to lose, plus Bayley was debuting the next night and he had all of his friends with him on the same brand, and he thought life couldn't get any better, but he'd quickly learned it could easily get worse. He'd won, but had to relinquish the title the next night, the same night that Bayley debuted. When he should have been celebrating he was fighting through pain, exhaustion, and disappointment. He'd known by the time he'd given up the title that it was going to be a long road to recovery, and it was a hard pill to swallow.

Admittedly he pulled away from his friendships and distanced himself from wrestling for a while. He'd had to go through a mental and emotional journey in his recovery as well, but in the end he felt it had been good for him. He'd come out of it more mature with a better grasp on his priorities and what was important in life, which was a good thing because he'd had to accept the fact that the goal he'd pushed for-to get back for Wrestlemania-wasn't going to happen despite the fact that he was cleared in time.

Most of his friendships had fallen back into place easily, no one had held it against him that he'd needed the time and distance, but it had been a little harder with Bayley. Not because she wasn't willing, but just because they'd had to find a new normal for them. The last time they'd been close their circumstances had been vastly different, but eventually the awkwardness wore off and they fell back into their easy friendship.

Ironically Bayley received a shoulder injury in a match only a couple of months after he'd returned. Thankfully hers wasn't nearly as bad as his had been, but it was still going to take time to heal, which meant time away from TV that he knew she was dreading. Like most injuries it hadn't happened when it would have been convenient, and he knew she was a little bitter at loosing her chance to pay Alexa back for all of the things she'd said and done. When creative had told him that Bray was hinting at finally introducing the elusive Sister Abigail and asked if he wanted to have someone standing with him to counteract it, he'd jumped at the chance to give his friend something to sink her teeth into and distract her. They actually hadn't been surprised when he'd insisted he wanted Bayley, and in fact had told him that she was one of the ones they'd already considered. She would more than likely be returning before or shortly after No Mercy, their next scheduled pay-per-view after Summerslam, and for their purposes was actually the most convenient option. They wouldn't have to worry about fazing anyone else out of their current story or worry about what they would do with her when she got back. They also liked the potential for a romantic angle between them and thought it would work nicely as her character's motivation for helping him. They wanted them to maintain it outside of TV and events as well so that they could help draw even more interest.

She'd been open to the idea though maybe not as enthusiastic as he'd hoped she would be. They'd had a lot of fun with the romance angle before in NXT, but he knew creative would be asking a lot more of them this time. They would have to 'live it' and stay committed to it even on their own time, which they hadn't had to do before, and he thought that might have been what was making her hesitate, but then he'd also noticed that she'd been reluctant any time they mentioned the demon and he was surprised to realize that as long as they'd been friends, she'd never met the demon before. Most of his friends had met his alter ego at some point, even the ones who hadn't been in the ring with him. He hadn't intentionally kept the demon away from her, and now that he realized it he was curious to see what the demon thought of her.

As it turned out he didn't have to wait as long as he'd thought he would to find out. After Bray had dumped blood on him, they'd done an unplanned segment of Bayley asking him about the demon on camera, and that combined with a picture he'd posted of the two of them had generated more interest than they'd expected. They'd decided to change the plans for Summerslam at the last minute and have Bayley meet the demon on camera much earlier than they'd originally outlined. When Kurt told him about the changes it was only the day before the show, and he hadn't had a chance yet to talk to Bayley about why she seemed nervous about the demon. He requested that he be the one to tell her about the changes, which they'd allowed, and knowing he was bearing news that may or may not be taken well he'd armed himself with one of her weaknesses-coffee-before deciding to simply show up at her door.

He got the unexpected pleasure of seeing her all sleepy-eyed with her hair a mess, and he thought it was adorable and sexy as hell. She was wearing a hoodie and short cotton shorts. She didn't wear shorts very often so as a man he couldn't help but appreciate all of the smooth, tan skin that the view afforded him. He'd often thought she was beautiful, but he thought he might like this look on her best of all. He couldn't stop his mind from briefly conjuring up the image of her like this curled up in his bed, that beautiful dark hair spread out on his pillow, and he'd had to shut down that train of thought before it got any further.

Her face lit up when she saw the coffee, and he was glad he'd thought of it. He was amused when she wouldn't stop drinking her coffee even long enough to answer his question about her shoulder, and he took the hint and let her have her fill before repeating it. They talked briefly about rehab and her disappointment with not being able to compete the next day, which he could empathize with, then he brought up the demon. It was just as he'd thought, she'd been trying to hide her reservations about meeting the demon from him. He tried to reassure as best he could that she didn't have anything to worry about, then he convinced her to come have breakfast with him.

While she'd gone in the bathroom to get cleaned up he waited for her in her hotel room. There was no where to sit in the small room except the bed so he'd leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes. Her scent surrounded him, the light, citrusey perfume that he recognized as hers combined with the clean smell of her shampoo, and he was asleep in minutes. He jerked awake to the sound of her saying his name. She was dressed with her hair fixed and her makeup on now, and not that she was't beautiful this way too, but he couldn't help but mourn a little for the loss of the bed-head look. He knew he had to stop thinking about her that way so he distracted himself with mundane conversation about where they were going and how they were getting there.

They'd decided to walk to their destination and they purposefully walked close together, shoulders almost brushing. He was happy to see her laughing and smiling again, her natural optimism seeming to reassert itself. He thought about taking her hand, but decided it might be too soon and too obvious. Besides, he was finding already that maintaining a platonic relationship with her while having to pretend like it was more was going to be lot harder than he'd originally thought. He'd never struggled before with being just her friend even though he'd always known that he found her attractive, but he'd also never had to be constantly reminded of just what they were missing out on. Everything he did to help further their story also seemed to make him more and more aware of their natural chemistry, and how easy it would be to fall for her. They enjoyed their breakfast and lingered over their coffee before they finally had to part ways for the day. Finn hoped that at some point over the course of the morning he'd managed to make her feel better about their upcoming segment, though he got the impression she was just humoring him.

...

He got to see her briefly on their way in to the building the next day and was surprised that she hadn't filled Sasha in on what they would be doing. He knew how close she and Sasha were so it was a dead giveaway that she wasn't as okay with meeting the demon as she'd tried to make him think the day before. Unfortunately he didn't have time to talk to her any more about it, the ritual of applying the paint and allowing the demon full control was a long process. Contrary to what many thought he could access the demon without the paint, but he never did for fights. The paint was integral to allowing the demon completely out without giving up himself in the process. He left her to face what he was sure to be an awkward moment with Sasha hoping that Sasha could succeed where he'd failed.

Several hours later he comfortably shared his body with the demonic manifestation of the darkest parts of himself. He made sure the demon knew that he would be meeting someone who was important to him and that he didn't want him scaring her away. The demon had been a little offended and extremely curious. He'd never made a big deal about anyone he'd introduced the demon to before so the fact that he was stressing over this particular introduction had the demon intrigued.

When they walked out into the hall to see her standing there the demon's reaction was intense and overwhelming. Finn was hit with so many emotions at once each one overlapping the next, white-hot lust, fascination, possessiveness, confusion and anger, and then even those were cut off. He experienced something altogether new as the demon looked into her eyes. It felt like electrical feedback, his ears ringing, vision going white, all of his senses overloaded and for a second he felt like he could feel the demon calling out to something in her, like he'd made some sort of connection before it abruptly cut off and they were walking down the hall leaving her where she stood.

Even as they made their way to the arena Finn was still struggling to sort out all of the emotions and trying to understand what had happened. The lust wasn't unexpected, if he found her attractive then obviously his darker half would as well though the intensity of it was not going to make things easy on him when he'd already been struggling with keeping that attraction compartmentalized. The fascination also made sense, but the possessiveness, the demon's firm feeling of 'mine' when he'd looked at her had been unforeseen and was going to complicate things even further. The confusion and anger had all been directed internally at Finn. The demon did not understand why Finn had not already claimed her, why he denied his desire and why he'd done so for so long.

As to what had happened when their eyes made contact he had no idea. Nothing like that had ever happened before but he could almost feel it even now. A raw, new connection had been made. She wouldn't feel it yet, but Finn had been too much a part of the demon for too long. He knew something had changed, and only time would tell exactly what that was.

...

He missed her like crazy while she was gone and probably called her more than he should have, but she always seemed happy to hear from him, so he didn't let that stop him. She was great about listening to his mounting frustration with Bray, and he tried to be her sounding board for her frustration and pain and boredom. He knew first hand how unpleasant the recovery process was, and he was proud of her for keeping her spirits up through it all. When she confessed that she was working on ring gear to match his he felt a wave of the same possessiveness that the demon had felt. The thought of her like that made him burn inside, and he wanted to see it right away, but she shot him down. The fact that she wanted to keep it a surprise was an appealing thought though. He knew the anticipation was going to kill him, but he couldn't help but be happy about it too.

Once he found out she was cleared to return he made arrangements to fly out that Monday as soon as Raw was over with. He didn't want to wait to see her and he used the excuse that creative was pressuring him, which was true, they had been on him to get interest in the romance angle going again as soon as possible, but it probably could have waited a day. They were going to share a car all week, and he was both anticipating the time in her company and dreading how much more difficult it was going to be to keep his thoughts in check. He was beginning to accept that remaining platonic with her was a lost cause for him, especially after the demon's extreme reaction, but he also had no idea if she was open to more between them. He knew that if she wasn't and he brought it up, it could make things very difficult at a time when they both had to be focused on making his feud with Bray a success, so he was hesitant to initiate any changes in their relationship.

He was glad the romance angle meant that it was supposed to look like there was something going on between them because the first thing he did when he saw her was pull her into his arms and soak in how right it was to have her there. She seemed pretty happy to see him too, but he knew she'd been climbing the walls with boredom and was more than likely just happy to have any company. Even if that was true though he was happy to take advantage and he held onto her as long as he could.

They were spotted on their way out of the airport and they stopped for a while to take pictures with fans. He loved seeing her interact with them especially the kids, she'd always had that special connection with the younger fans and it was joy to watch. She got caught off guard by an older fan asking if they were dating, and her whole face flushed. He thought it was adorable and he stepped in to help her out since she was too flustered to answer. He didn't even try to make the guy think he was telling the truth when he told him they were just really good friends. He got the pleasure of seeing her blush more when he teased her about it once they got in the car. He was thoroughly enjoying just being around her again when she caught him off guard with questions about the demon. He loved that she was interested, but it was his turn to freeze up when she asked what the demon thought of everything.

He couldn't tell her that the demon would have preferred it if he'd skipped all of the pleasantries and taken her clothes off as soon as they were alone, nor could he tell her that he'd forged some kind of connection with her the moment they'd locked eyes at Summerslam, a connection that he still knew pretty much nothing about. Instead he ended up giving her a vague answer about the demon not understanding real life complications, which was true but didn't really answer her question. She seemed satisfied with his answer though and he steered the subject in a different direction, hoping she wouldn't realize that he'd avoided a real answer.

...

He'd always gotten on pretty well with Sasha but he had to admit that he was a little jealous of having to share Bayley with someone else after having her to himself for two days. Riding with Bayley had been amazing, but once Sasha joined them it became an exercise in avoidance. Sasha saw way too much, and he'd known from one well placed look that if she hadn't already been aware of how he'd felt about Bayley then she certainly was now. The only upside was that they were never alone for more than a few minutes, so she never had a chance to actually say anything to him.

Once Bayley officially returned to TV she only rode with him occasionally, and while he always enjoyed hanging with his boys, and he appreciated the fact that he _could_ ride with them after they hadn't been able to for the last few years, his mind was on Bayley and how much he missed having her constant presence. Now that he'd acknowledged to himself that he felt more for her, he couldn't get her out of his head. When she stopped him after a match backstage, he knew they were filming, but he couldn't do anything but look at her. He could see that she understood his dissatisfaction with the way things had been going with Bray and he wanted the whole world to disappear in that moment, to not have to worry about anything but him and her, but he knew it wasn't possible so he just nodded at her to acknowledge her support and moved on. Funnily enough the simple scene made the creative team very happy and they promised that they would let him try and provoke Bray as long as he and Bayley could keep fueling the interest in his feud and her involvement. They made it easier on them by rearranging their schedules so that they fit better, and he got the best of both worlds with his traveling partners, Bayley electing to ride with him, Karl, and Luke now that their schedules were so similar..

They flat out gave him shit for it, but at this point he didn't care as long as they didn't bother her, which of course they didn't. They were good guys, and treated her like she was what they were portraying her to be to the outside world-his girl, with all of the respect and care that came with that. To them she was essentially family and he knew that if it was needed they would protect her like family too. Unfortunately the one thing they couldn't do was help with Bray. They'd been given strict orders not to interfere until the boss decided he wanted the three of them together, and this was one rule that they all knew they had to adhere to. Of course that was for the cameras only, and he wouldn't put it past Bray to pull something off camera to get into his head, so it made him feel a little better to have his brothers at his back even if he had to put up with their teasing. With all of them riding together it wasn't difficult at all to keep people talking, all they had to do was post a few pictures to their Twitter and Instagram accounts, and the pictures didn't even have to be anything remotely romantic. An Instagram story of Bayley and Karl fighting it out on a video game and a picture of Bayley and him making silly faces through the car window was all it took for people to make their own assumptions.

The next week creative was true to their word and gave him a segment to try and galvanize Bray into action, but it turned out that that was exactly what Bray had been waiting on. He'd only been talking a moment when the arena went dark. Bray's typical array of unsettling images began flashing on the screen and he had to admit he fell for it, letting his guard down thinking it was just another nonsensical and pointless segment to belay him. Then an almost skeletal form appeared before him that he could only assume was Sister Abigail. Her appearance was truly chilling, the ghost-like woman's cackle grating across his nerves and temporarily freezing him in place. He wasn't sure what would have happened if it hadn't been for the hooded figure that barreled into him knocking him hard to the canvas. As soon as they hit the mat and he felt her against him he knew it was Bayley. The impact had the added bonus of kicking his brain back into gear, and he immediately wrapped his arms around her and rolled them both out of the ring, accidentally knocking her hood loose in the process and causing the crowd to gasp in surprise. She easily kept up with him as he pulled her to the top of the ramp before they stopped to stare down the duo still in the ring. As usual Bray was laughing, but it didn't bother him nearly as much as it would have only a few hours ago. The progress that he'd been waiting on for months now had finally come to fruition, and he had Bayley by his side, he was pretty damn happy. Once they'd got back to gorilla he tried to let her know how much he appreciated what she'd done but he couldn't get the words out and ended up just telling her it was amazing, then he hugged her.

He had no idea how she could have possibly known that she needed to be there, but he was grateful none the less. He didn't think there was anything that could have possibly made the night better after that until she told him she was going to wear her new gear and then teased him about making him wait to see it. She'd teased him before, but it had always been the friendly, innocent type of teasing, not the coy yet provocative way she looked at him when she told him she was going to make him wait, and it floored him. He could almost feel the demon urging him to just kiss her and be done with it. Instead he looked her up and down and didn't try to hide the desire he felt when he told her he couldn't wait for it. Even as they parted ways to go change out of their gear he couldn't help but think that maybe he'd gotten the sign that he hadn't even realized he needed. Maybe she would be open to more between them, and if he wasn't reading her wrong, maybe the longing, the hunger he felt for her wasn't one sided.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the Monday before TLC where Finn was set to take on Bray as the demon. Bray had been inexplicably absent recently, the only sign of him the random unexplained appearances of Sister Abigail. The arena was completely dark, the only light a single spotlight shining down on Sister Abigail where she stood in the middle of the ring, a mist floating around her. She swayed to a rhythm no one could hear, cackling eerily, her dead eyes staring off into the abyss.

When she spoke you could hear the resemblance to Bray, that compelling cadence that could draw you in in spite of yourself. Also like Bray, her words were nonsensical, turning everything around and around until up was down and beginning and end made no difference. The audience was...intrigued. You could tell they weren't sure yet what to think of her.

Despite the events of the week before no one was expecting what happened next. The lights flashed red, like demonic lightning, and the deep throb of a heartbeat could be heard. The lights flashed a second time and now standing in the spotlight across from Sister Abigail was Bayley. She wasn't dressed the way everyone had come to expect of her. Her dark hair fell to her shoulders, her eye makeup was dark and dramatic. Her gear followed the same basic cut as her usual gear, but it was all black except for deep purple veins that wrapped around and up one leg.

Even ignoring the changes to her appearance there was something different about her. Her eyes stared into those of the ghost-like woman, indifferent to the cold fear that seemed to radiate off of her. Neither moved for several minutes, the tension growing thicker with every second that passed until the entire arena went pitch black. When the lights came back on both were gone and the audience immediately began to buzz, confused about what had happened.

Finn witnessed the whole thing from the monitors backstage. He and Bayley had made a point of keeping an eye on Sister Abigail, but Bayley hadn't mentioned anything about this to him, so he was just as confused as everyone else. He tried to find her backstage afterwards, but was unsuccessful, no one had seen either of them. He'd been blown away (and turned on) by her new gear, but he felt weird about trying to bring it up through text and that was the only communication he had with her all week. She and Sasha had meet and greets scheduled together all week, so she had been riding with Sasha instead of with him and the guys. He'd already become accustomed to her always being there, and not riding with her was hard enough anyway, but when he didn't get to see her at all, even backstage, he felt the frustration even more. On top of missing her he was irritated that he couldn't even really talk to her. The texts he received from her were strangely ordinary. She never mentioned it at all, instead she recommended a coffee shop she'd found, sent him a couple of songs, and they'd spent an entire day texting back and forth about a new game she was in to.

By the morning of TLC he was determined he was going to find a way to see her, deciding to show up at her hotel room. She greeted him enthusiastically with a hug, but he'd obviously caught her on her way out, and he only got to see her for a minute. She promised she would see him at the arena that night, gave him another hug, and she was gone. He was still frustrated that he hadn't got to talk to her, but at least he'd seen her, and even gotten a couple of hugs out of it. He figured he could try and talk her into hanging out with him tomorrow morning if he could catch her at the arena that night. Of course he was going to be tied up with the demon and considering his luck he would miss her again.

As it turned out though he didn't have to find Bayley that night. The demon brought her to him. That connection the demon had created finally manifested itself during his match with Bray. When he'd made his entrance, the demon had been completely unconcerned with Bray's shadow lurking along the ring apron. He'd systematically pulled apart Bray's offense. Bray was a crafty opponent, and not one to be taken lightly, but at the same time the demon had faced down many opponents who were bigger and stronger. In the end Bray had nothing on the demon. He could tell when Bray realized that he wasn't going to win because he felt more than saw Sister Abigail approaching, intending to blindside him, but when she did the lights flashed and Bayley appeared.

Both he and the demon couldn't help but stop a moment to take in the sight of her. She was magnificent in the gear she'd debuted that week on Raw, only up close he could see that some of the flame-like veins running up her leg were solid and some of them were sheer cutouts hinting at the skin underneath. She'd also added a forearm covering on both arms that matched. He was hit with a wave of pure lust, and in that moment he wanted her so bad he could taste it, but it was not the time to be distracted. Bayley took advantage of the few seconds where they were all staring at her, stunned. She moved forward, grabbing Sister Abigail and performing a beautiful DDT, laying her out cold on the canvas. She glanced at him for only a second before she started pushing the woman's limp form out of the ring. Bray finally snapped out of it running straight at Bayley, eyes wild and fiery. The demon took the opportunity she'd provided him, catching Bray off guard with a slingblade. As he tried to get up again the demon was ready running from the opposite corner and taking him down again with a dropkick to the turnbuckle, then scrambling to the top rope to come down hard on him with both feet in the coup de gras. Bray was completely out and the demon easily got the three count for the win.

As soon as his opponent was dispatched he immediately looked up searching for Bayley. She was just outside the ring staring at him both hands resting on the apron. The demon crooked a finger at her, indicating he wanted her to come closer. His music faded out and the crowd watched on, a sort of hushed buzz rolling through them. She rolled into the ring and approached him slowly. As she got near, she began to kneel before him. He made a sound low in his throat and reached out to her face. Cupping her jaw in his hand, he pulled her upwards until she stood in front of him. He stared into her eyes, the connection between them crackling like electricity. Eventually he nodded at her in approval and turned to walk away. She followed him up the ramp and to the back where they parted silently in the hall.

As soon as Finn was feeling like himself again, he sent her text that said,

'We need to talk,' she replied almost immediately,

'Okay, wanna grab some food after the show?'

He confirmed and busied himself with cleaning up and packing his gear. The events of the evening were just starting to sink in and his emotions and thoughts were all over the place. There was no denying to himself anymore how much he wanted her, and he knew it was going to take some control to not kiss her as soon as he saw her. He also knew he couldn't let himself get distracted, they had to talk about everything that had happened this week. He couldn't leave off addressing the connection anymore either.

By the time they were settled at a table he could tell something was off with Bayley. Her usual happy glow was missing and she looked uncomfortable, maybe even a little freaked out. He didn't hesitate to ask,

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I've been getting strange looks all night, and I can't remember much after I got to the arena, and the only thing I can think is the demon has something to do with it, so you tell me, what in the hell is going on?" her voice had an almost hysterical quality to it that escalated as she spoke.

"What do you mean you can't remember anything?"

"Just what I said, I remember arriving at the arena, but Sasha said I told her that I had something I had to do and that I disappeared until sometime right before we met up to leave, but I don't remember any of that. I remember getting there and leaving, but nothing in between, and Sasha says she saw me with you in the hall, and I gotta say this is really freaking me out!"

"I don't know why you can't remember, but I've been trying to talk to you all week about it, where in the hell have you been?"

"What do you mean you've been trying to talk to me all week about it? This just happened tonight."

"I've been trying to ask you about last week, about what you did on Raw, why didn't you tell me you were going to confront her?"

"I don't know what in the hell you're talking about Finn."

"Fuck, seriously? Okay well, there might be an explanation, I didn't realize that this would happen, but it has to do with when you met the demon at Summerslam. I was going to talk to you about it tonight anyway, but I didn't realize that it was this serious."

"What did he do to me?" She asked half angry, half hysterical. He could see they were getting looks from the few other people in the small diner that they'd chosen.

"I don't know okay. This has never happened before. I think we need to have this conversation somewhere a little more private though. Can we get our food to go and maybe go back to the hotel please?" She looked like it was the last thing she wanted to do, but she now realized that they were being stared at, so she reluctantly agreed. She took care of getting their order converted, but didn't say anything else to him, and he wasn't sure what he could say to break the silence, so they made the trip back to the hotel without conversation.

Once they were back in his room, she sat the food down at the table, but she seemed to have no interest in eating as she looked at him pointedly. He sat down across from her and tried to explain.

"I promise you nothing like this has ever happened before, and I really don't know exactly why you don't remember, but I think you're right about it having something to do with the demon. That night when you met him I felt something I've never felt before from him. He made some kind of connection with you. I told you that we knew there was a lot more to you, and I think that my demon may have wanted you to find that part of yourself."

"But I don't understand why I'm suddenly doing things I can't remember, and what exactly did I do anyway, and why didn't you say something before now, why didn't you tell me right after it happened?"

"I didn't know. I knew _something_ had happened, but I didn't know what exactly or what it meant, like I said this has never happened before and I didn't know what to tell you, I still don't know what to tell you honestly."

He looked at her, hoping that his lack of answers wouldn't freak her out even more. She looked back at him. He could see she was trying to get a handle on her emotions, after a few minutes that felt like a few hours she seemed to have at least gotten a hold of some of the panic that had gripped her earlier. She was a lot calmer when she asked,

"So what did I do?" He couldn't help but remember just how amazing she'd been standing there like an avenging angel tonight and it must have shown in his face when he told her,

"Last week you interrupted Sister Abigail when she was talking, then you both disappeared. Tonight though, you were something else. Fuck that DDT was beautiful, you had all three of us mesmerized, saved us really from Abigail turning things in Bray's favor, gave the demon a chance to finish him off with her out of the equation. I should have known something was off though when you tried to kneel in front of the demon, you've got too much of a fighter in you to kneel for anyone, even the demon."

She looked flabbergasted, in complete shock, but her cheeks also turned pink and he realized he might have let a little bit too much of how he felt about her shine through his words. He couldn't exactly take it back now though, so he simply waited for her to gather her thoughts and respond.

"So I essentially did what we'd planned for me to do then, but I still don't understand why I can't remember."

"Yeah, I don't understand that either, but maybe the demon thinks you weren't ready for it yet? I didn't suddenly one day have access to the demon, I had to learn to draw that part out of me and how to control it. It's why I started experimenting with the paint originally, it helps me give the demon more control, but it's not really about the paint itself so much as the ritual that brings him out. Maybe you just need time to figure that out and the demon knew we didn't have time with Bray and Abigail breathing down our necks, but now they aren't a problem, at least for a little while, maybe we can take the time now."

"Okay that all actually makes a lot of sense."

"I promise Bayley that I will help you figure this all out."

"Okay, just please, if he does anything else like he did at Summerslam, will you tell me about it, even if you don't know what it is?"

"I will. I didn't intend to keep anything from you, and I'm sorry if it felt that way," she smiled at him in response, a real smile that reached her eyes and he felt something in his chest relax at seeing some of her natural demeanor return, then she looked at him and the smile turned a little devious.

"So I wore my new gear, I'm guessing, what did you think?" He didn't know how to respond. Her just mentioning it brought up the image in his mind and the urge to kiss her hit him full force again. Her gear was actually fairly modest especially compared to many of the other women, but that hint of skin peaking through the flames on her gear had turned him on more than any of the high cut trunks he'd ever seen anyone else wear, and he couldn't even begin to explain what it meant to him to see her decked out in a design that mimicked his. He looked her in the eyes and he knew it showed on his face when the pink returned to her cheeks and her breath caught. He couldn't help himself, he leaned forward knowing he was fighting a losing battle, one he would have lost if it hadn't been for her phone chirping loudly on the table, startling both of them. It was enough to bring them both back to reality, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He finally told her,

"You were breathtaking, absolutely brilliant and I really hope we have an opportunity to do an entrance together at some point." The pink on her cheeks deepened, but she looked really pleased. The tension had mostly dissipated and after that they were able to finally pull out their food and enjoy their meal together.

...

Over the following weeks the storyline changed focus as they ramped up for Survivor Series, most personal feuds were pushed to the background in favor of the ongoing feud between the brands. Bray was completely absent and Sister Abigail along with him. Finn was admittedly distracted by what was going on between Bayley and the demon and frustrated by their lack of progress in that area. Bayley was riding with Sasha a lot more these days, and he knew part of it was just because the two friends wanted to see each other and part of it was because he knew they liked to save money by splitting a room when Sasha's husband wasn't traveling with her, but he couldn't help but feel like despite their conversation that day that Bayley was avoiding him a little. What was worse was that he wasn't sure if it was because she was avoiding the issue with the demon or if she was avoiding him because of the fact that he had almost kissed her.

He ran afoul of a returning Demon Kane two weeks in a row and his demon was more than a little bitter about that. He was not happy that anyone would perceive them as being weaker than someone that his demon thought of as an 'old man' and he was chomping at the bit to be let out to show him what they could really do, but Finn knew creative would not welcome his interference in Kane's business at the moment, so he retreated, something he was not accustomed to doing. Creative was also not as concerned with his and Bayley's story at the moment and they didn't have any segments together. The only segment they did have didn't even have him interacting with her, but it did show Sasha teasing Bayley backstage after he walked by. She did an awesome job playing her part, and it only made him wish even more that they could make more progress between them in real life.

He put in a pretty decent performance at Survivor Series, though he could tell Bayley wasn't happy with how she'd been taken by surprise, being eliminated much earlier than she'd hoped. He was relieved when she finally came to him a few weeks later, asking if he would try and help her with accessing that darker side that the demon had pulled out of her, he'd started to think she was going to avoid him indefinitely. He told her to come by his room that night and she agreed. She didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable around him, so he hoped that meant it was just the demon's interference that had been behind her absence in his life.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: If you read Chapter 4 prior to this posting I made minor changes to the last paragraph. I goofed and wasn't paying close enough attention to my timeline. The original wording would have had this next scene take place too soon. Instead of directly after Survivor Series it takes place weeks later. Also this is obviously AU, and though I often follow canon events, I also make changes as I feel like it-for example-no Absolution (can't stand that stupid storyline) and no Paige return, at least not yet.

* * *

Bayley was a little nervous about going to Finn's room that night. She hadn't consciously meant to, but she'd kind of been avoiding him lately, and that combined with hectic holiday schedule meant she really hadn't seen much of him. Losing bits and pieces of her memory had really freaked her out, and finding out that Finn's demon had been the cause of it hadn't helped matters. She felt drawn to Finn, both because of him as a person and because of that connection she had to his demon. She'd struggled with keeping her emotions regarding each of them separate, and it had been easier to avoid him altogether. Of course that also meant she'd really missed him too, and avoidance was really only a temporary solution anyway

She knew she had to deal with everything that had happened. After all, there was a reason Finn's demon had chosen her, and she needed to face that part of herself that the demon had called out of her. When she took yet another loss to Nia in yet another pointless tag match she finally decided she had to stop avoiding the issue and she approached Finn. He'd been pleasantly surprised and she guiltily realized she also hadn't been fair to him.

When she got to his door she hesitated for a moment, but eventually forced herself to reach out and knock. It didn't take long for him to answer, wearing his original Balor Club tee, one that had obviously been worn and washed many times, and a pair of black basketball shorts. He'd looked her up and down as he gestured for her to come in and said,

"I thought you wanted to tap into your darker side?" She was dressed comfortably in her favorite pair of black leggings with the electric blue patterns across them and one of her own blue and yellow hugger tees. It had never even occurred to her to think about what she was wearing.

"Should I not have worn this?"

"It's more symbolic than anything else, but it does help to dress the part."

"Um, okay, I guess I can go change then."

"Don't worry about it. You can borrow one of my shirts, and at least the leggings are mostly black." He walked away and returned a moment later with yet another Balor Club shirt out of his bag. It didn't take her long to duck into the bathroom and change. Though the shirt was obviously clean, it still smelled like him. It made her feel a little strange, though not in a bad way, to be surrounded by his scent like that. When she returned to the room, his eyes were intense, and the way he looked at her made chills roll up her spine. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed lounging back against the headboard. She wasn't sure what to do, but he gestured at the bed in front of him so she came over and crawled onto it until she sat cross-legged across from him. He watched her intently the whole time. Once she was comfortable he reached out, taking her palms in his. She felt a tingly, nervous anticipation in her belly at the feel of the warm callouses of his hands against hers. The whole push-and-pull, feeling drawn to him, but also wanting to run away was driving her crazy. She nervously asked,

"Are you sure about this?"

"I'm not afraid of my demon. We made peace a long time ago, and besides we both want to help you," she nodded at him, but didn't say anything else. He encouraged her to breath deeply, and for a while it was quiet, peaceful, with the only sound that of their breathing in sync.

When Bayley looked up into his eyes she knew that she was looking at the demon, not Finn, even without the paint. Instead of the bright, clear blue, his eyes were so dark they were almost black, and the whites of his eyes were barely visible. He favored her with a wicked grin and said,

"You look quite delicious in my shirt, sweet Bayley, though you'd look even better out of it," she gasped, stunned, and her first reaction was to try and pull her hands away, but his grip was too firm and he kept her in place."Don't worry little lamb. I would never hurt you, and even if I would, _he_ would never let me."

She stopped trying to pull away though she was still wary and unsure of how this was supposed to help her. She knew the demon was, well, a demon, but it had still surprised her to hear something so un-Finn like come out of his mouth. He continued,

"Relax for a moment, stop thinking so hard." She tried to do as he asked, and she fell back into a shallow rhythm with her breathing. She felt the demon in front of her, a sort of static electricity running across her skin in awareness of him, and she could feel herself sinking deeper into her own mind. All of a sudden something clicked inside of her like it had been waiting there the whole time. It was like a gulf of heat, anger, determination, grit. She'd always known deep inside was a core of steel. It was what had gotten her naturally sweet and kind personality as far in her career as it had, but she'd never understood it like this before. It was almost freeing, finding that puzzle piece that had been missing.

"Can you feel it?" he asked grinning. She nodded and he said, "Now let it move through you, but control it, don't let it control you." She tried to do as he asked, but she could see why he'd told her to control it. She could feel it trying to be let loose and take over. She forced it to move slowly, infusing each part of her body one at a time. The strain of controlling it quickly became exhausting. She was starting to feel some of the control slipping and he said,

"Enough," and all of a sudden it was gone. She was back on the bed, her hands in his, her whole body trembling. The demon's eyes faded from midnight to clear blue. It was a relief to see her friend again. He searched her face to make sure she was alright then smiled at her and asked,

"That wasn't too bad was it?"

"No, that was easier than I thought it would be actually. Can I ask you a question though?"

"Sure."

"How come your demon is like a whole other person, but that was just like opening a door for me?"

"Because he is in way, I guess, though also not at all. He's the deepest, darkest part of myself, and for me, I needed that separation to control it. Mine was a lot more violent and explosive than yours is."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but like I said. We made peace a long time ago. He's more like an old friend now, and I'm still there when I bring him forward. Ultimately, I'm in control"

"So what he said to me?" Finn looked uncomfortable and said,

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I can stop him from doing something if I don't like it, but if he actually gets to talk, especially because I don't let him do that very often, I can't really filter what comes out."

"But why would he say something like that?" she asked confused. There was no denying the implications of the demon's first words to her, and it was the last thing she'd expected to hear. She'd honestly been a little scared of the encounter, so to have his first words be him telling her he'd prefer her with her clothes off left her feeling a little mixed up. Finn looked at her, and she wasn't sure how to interpret the expression on his face. His face softened, but his eyes were intense and pierced into her making her shiver and reminded her of the ache, the want that she'd felt that day in the hall and that she'd been ignoring ever since. His hand came up to gently cup the side of her face.

"You're a beautiful woman Bayley, inside and out. Any man would have to be deaf, blind and dumb not to notice that, and I can assure you my demon is none of those things."

She felt her cheeks warm. Finn had never said anything like that to her before, and she couldn't help how it made her feel-elated, terrified, her heart pounding fiercely, trying to catch her breath. The air between them was charged, electric. She nervously blurted out,

"So you wanna watch a movie?" and immediately felt stupid. He seemed taken aback for a minute, looking at her curiously, but then he smiled at her and said,

"Yeah, that sounds good."

They picked one of the many super hero based movies available on Netflix, one they'd both seen a gazillion times, but one that neither minded watching again. They sat back, both propped up against the headboard, but it didn't take long for them to sink further into the pillows, and somehow after they'd both gotten comfortable, they were a lot closer together than they'd originally started off as.

At first they chatted in between scenes, debating various details in the movie, but it didn't take long for her eyes to grow heavy. She nodded off onto his shoulder by accident, and when she realized it he was lightly running his fingers through her hair and there was no way she was moving. At first she was hyper-aware of him, of everything, but eventually the soothing motion lulled her back to sleep.

...

She woke up wrapped in his arms with their legs entangled. They were so entwined that she knew she couldn't move without waking him and she wasn't sure what to do. It felt way too good to be surrounded by him, his warmth, his strength, his scent filling her senses. Her phone chirping woke him and he nuzzled his face into her neck and shoulder. She couldn't stop herself from humming in pleasure. It felt too amazing not to. He sleepily asked,

"What time is it?" and she remembered her phone. She reached out and grabbed it off of the table and reacted instantly.

"Shit!" She sat up and he asked,

"What's wrong?"

"It's almost eleven."

"Did you tell Sasha where you were going last night?"

"I told her you and I were going to hang out, but she was definitely expecting me back. We were supposed to meet Apollo and Titus for breakfast at nine, and I can't believe I slept through her texting me this much, she's going to kill me," she said as she scrolled through her messages. "She's got my stuff, but I missed my ride. She's assuming I'm still with you and I'm under strict orders to let her know that I am and that everything is fine as soon as possible."

"Well text her and let her know you're alright. You can just ride with me and the guys. Neither of them are early risers. I normally have to drag them back on the road."

What she didn't tell Finn was that Sasha had also sent her plenty of messages that all pretty much said 'I told you so.' Sasha was assuming that she'd slept with Finn. She texted Sasha and tried to correct her while thanking her for getting her things. Sasha was glad she was fine, but didn't seem to believe her about what she'd been doing that had kept her out all night. She was not looking forward to when she saw Sasha again. Even better, while Finn was changing in the bathroom, there was a knock at the door and he asked her to get it. When she opened the door it was Karl, and he'd taken one look at her, hair mussed and wearing Finn's t-shirt and grinned. She felt her whole face turn red.

Finn came out of the bathroom and grinned at Karl and said,

"Hey! We were just talking about you."

"You were huh?"

"Yeah. Bayley's going to ride with us today. She missed her ride," he said unaware of what Karl had obviously assumed. He looked at her and asked,

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, but, um, my shirt?"

"I put it in my bag. I figured since Sasha's got your stuff I'd give it back when we got there."

"Oh, okay," she said still feeling embarrassed. Finn must have not been as unaware as she'd thought because he looked at Karl and said,

"Get your head out of the gutter. We fell asleep watching a movie." Karl looked a little skeptical and looking at her shirt he said,

"So Bayley are you joining the club now?" As embarrassed as she already was, the implications of his words only made it worse, but she also knew what Karl was like so she decided to turn it back on him.

"Hey I'm the one who's had his back the last few months. I think I earned that membership." His expression sobered,

"You're right, and you did," he paused then said, "You know we'd be right there with you guys if they'd let us."

"I know," she said, his teasing already forgiven. Finn was looking at her strange and she wasn't sure what was going on in his mind, but then he pulled her into a hug and said,

"You more than earned that membership," which made her heart skip and her chest tighten for a moment.

Karl walked by and snorted, muttering, "Watching a movie...riiight," and she knew it was going to be a long day.

...

They rode with Karl to get coffee, and then they picked up Luke. The guys played musical chairs with the seating arrangements. Luke took over driving and Karl took shotgun leaving Finn to ride in the back with her. Luke hadn't even batted an eye at her presence since she'd rode with them plenty of times before, and she was glad she hadn't had to revisit the teasing from earlier in the morning. That was until they stopped for a bathroom break and he noticed her shirt and said,

"Are you an official member of the club now?" Karl bust out laughing and Luke said,

"What?"

"Great minds think a-like brother, but yeah she's an official member now." He looked over at her and smiled like they had an inside joke, and she had to admit it made her feel pretty awesome. She'd forgotten how much she liked them and suddenly missed riding with them in spite of their teasing. Maybe now that she wasn't avoiding Finn she could ride with them more regularly again.

All day long Karl continued to subtly and sometimes not so subtly tease them. Eventually Luke caught on and joined in, and Finn had to tell them to knock it off. Finn seemed pretty irritated, but he also got over it quickly. He was used to the guys giving him hell. Sometimes it even seemed like a competition between the two to see which one could get him the most, and they were comfortable around her now and had no problems including her in their ribbing. Finn seemed more worried about her reaction then anything else though, which she thought was sweet and she tried to let him know that she could handle it, and she had to admit seeing Finn get flustered was kind of adorable.

Eventually they tired of poking at Finn and making her blush and she drifted off to sleep.

...

She could feel soft lips brush across the back of her neck making goosebumps rise across her skin. She hummed in appreciation then sucked in air through her teeth as the sharp sting of teeth accompanied them. Hands on her hips pulled her solidly against a hard body. She felt every contour from the strong arms, flat stomach, and hard arousal pressing into her. She could feel tingles radiating out from the most intimate part of her as it throbbed in anticipation. Desire made her almost delirious, her breathing going shallow as he kissed and bit across her shoulder, trailing his way back up her neck to her ear. She heard the soft Irish accent call her name and she gasped waking up to find herself still in the car.

The sun was setting, the light flashing through the trees as they drove past, and she glanced over to see Finn looking at her. He smiled softly and her chest tightened at the way he was looking at her even as her face flamed in embarrassment. She'd just had a sex dream about him while he was sitting only a foot away, and even worse with Karl and Luke in the front seat. If they knew they'd never let her live it down.

Finn looked puzzled at first, but then his smile turned devious and he leaned close, talking low so only she could hear,

"What were you dreaming about that's got you blushing love?"

His softly accented voice so close to her ear, just like in the dream along with the unexpected endearment only flustered her more, and she struggled with coming up with an answer, completely tongue-tied. She was actually saved by Karl's teasing as he'd glanced back and saw them so close together and asked,

"What are you two lovebirds up to back there?"

Finn favored him with a look of annoyance, then smirked at her, but he didn't try to get an answer out of her again which she was thankful for.

...

Right before they met up with Sasha she remembered that she had to face the Sasha inquisition and there was no escaping it. As soon as they'd parted from the guys, Sasha started in on her,

"So was it good?"

"Dude, I told you, I didn't sleep with him, at least not in the take your clothes off kind of way. We really just fell asleep watching a movie."

"Fine. I know you want to though."

"If I admit that yeah, I kind of do, will it get you off of this?"

"Ha! I knew it! You so want him."

"I knew I shouldn't have said that, but okay, yeah I do. It's hard not to. He's kind of hot and also one of my favorite people in the world, but that doesn't mean it's going to actually happen."

"Ah come on. The way he looks at you, there is no way he'd turn that down."

"Well I'm not going to be offering anything for him to turn down. I'm not throwing myself at him just to have a one night stand. He's too important to me as a friend."

"Who said anything about a one night stand? I think we've both known Finn long enough to know he ain't that kind of guy. And haven't you ever heard the phrase 'best friends make the best lovers'?"

"Yeah well that's a cliche, not reality. The more likely scenario is that it would be super awkward and he'd never want to talk to me again, no thanks."

"I don't think you give him enough credit. I also think that you don't need to throw yourself at him cause it's gonna happen either way."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that just like I knew you wanted him, I know he wants you just as much, and I guarantee you he will do something about it eventually."

"I think you've lost your mind."

"I'm right, and I think you know it. I get that you're scared of changing things between you guys, but I honestly think it could work out for you."

"Well I'm not so sure, and there's a few things that complicate the the situation that you're unaware of."

"Like what?"

"It has to do with what I did to Sister Abigail at TLC. Finn's demon brought something out of me and he's helping me learn how to control it."

"And you don't see that as just another sign that maybe you two are meant to happen?"

"No. It just makes the whole situation even more difficult. I need Finn's help with that, and he's the only one who _can_ help me."

"That complicates things, but it doesn't make them impossible."

"Sash, please."

"Fine, I get it, your going to stay in denial until it slaps you in the face. Anyway, so you've actually talked to his demon?"

"Yeah."

"What was that like?"

"Um, different," she said trying to will the color to stay away from her face, but Sasha was too good and noticed her discomfort anyway.

"What?"

"He kind of hit on me."

"Seriously? Girl, I don't know how many more signs you need, but I really hope Finn makes his move soon cause you're gonna drive me crazy if he doesn't."

"Come on, Sash. I thought we'd dropped this."

"We did, I'm just saying." There was a moment of somewhat awkward silence before Sasha said,

"So are you going to his room again tonight?"

"Sasha!"

"What I legitimately want to know what your plans are tonight. We are sharing a hotel room, I need to know what you're going to do."

"Yeah I probably will hang out with him again if he wants to, but we haven't actually talked about it yet."

"Maybe you should take your bags with you. You know, just in case."

"I'm going to strangle you."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop."

They moved onto other subjects as they got ready. Later on that night though, when Finn texted her about coming over, Sasha literally forced her to take her bags with her when she left.


	6. Chapter 6

When Finn opened his door that night she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. She hated the fact that Sasha had made her bring her bag with her and she knew how easily it could be misinterpreted. Thankfully Finn just laughed when he saw it and told her to come on in.

She left her bag by the dresser, but was unsure of what to do after that. Finn followed behind her and went around and plopped down on the bed. He leaned back against the headboard with his legs stretched out and ankles crossed in front of him, so she decided to do the same. She sat down next to him mimicking his pose and asked,

"I forgot to ask you last night, did you have a good Christmas?" He smiled at her and said,

"I did. It was great to see my family again. I wasn't thrilled to have to fly back on Christmas eve, but my mum kind of helped me put it all in perspective and she was right. I couldn't wrestle last Christmas, and I've only got so many more years to do this, so I'm trying to appreciate the opportunity that I've got and let go of the downsides, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah I do. Your mom's a smart lady."

"She is, isn't she? I know not everyone's got it so lucky. I couldn't have asked for a better support system in this crazy life we've chosen," he paused and looked at her, "Did you go home for Christmas?"

"Yeah. I had a lot fun seeing my nieces and nephews and hanging out with my brother and sisters. I don't make it back there often enough anymore. The kids all grow way too fast."

"I know what you mean. It feels like I was just holding babies the last time I was there, but now my nephew's old enough to want to wrestle in the floor with me and the girls are all taking over." She grinned at him and said,

"Yeah, girls have tendency to do that," he grinned back and asked,

"Did you get anything cool?"

"Well it was more of a present to myself, but I did get some new ink."

"Seriously? Where? Can I see?"

"On the inside of my ankle, yeah," she said as she rolled her leggings up to show him.

"Sweet," he said. As he examined her skin he lightly ran a finger over it. It had healed well, but was still sensitive and she sucked in a breath. "Oh, sorry," he said guiltily.

"It's okay, it's still healing though."

"That hasn't been uncomfortable to wrestle with?"

"Eh. A little, but not that bad. You ever think of getting any done?"

"I've thought about it, but I don't know. It's never felt right."

"Yeah. I can see that. It should feel right. It's not exactly something you can change your mind about."

"Gallows has so much ink I'm surprised he can even keep track of all of it."

"Yeah, well it can get addicting. It's a pretty unique adrenaline rush."

"What's it like?"

"I'm not sure how to describe it really. It hurts, yeah, but almost in a good way," she said searching for the right words, but he got a sly grin on his face and asked,

"It hurts in a good way huh? Didn't know you were into that kind of thing." She turned red when she'd realized what she'd said and how he'd taken it. She wasn't sure what to say so she smacked him on the arm and he laughed.

"Is it better than wrestling?"

"It's different. A different kind of rush."

"Better than sex?"

"Hell no. At least not good sex." He grinned and said,

"Amen," and she blushed again before he continued, "Wait. You've had bad enough sex that you'd describe getting ink injected into your skin with a needle as better?"

"Well, yeah. Believe me, not all guys understand how to or care about making sex good for their partner."

"Yeah, but why'd you put up with it?"

"Cause I was young, dumb, thought it was love, and didn't know any better."

"You wouldn't put up with it now would you?"

"Not that there's been an opportunity in a good while, but no, I wouldn't."

"Good, because you deserve better than that." She wasn't sure what to say to that, but he kept it from being awkward by changing the subject,

"So are you ready to practice?"

"Yeah I feel a lot more confident and a lot less scared of this after last night."

"Good. I'm glad," he said as moved around until he sat across from her andheld out his palms. They both started to relax into slow, deep breathing. It was even easier to find that door in her mind tonight, to let that other part of her out from behind the wall that held it in. She could feel it more fully tonight and was so focused on trying to control it and understand it that she didn't even notice the demon grinning at her at first. It was hard to describe exactly, but the demon's grin was wholly different from Finn's. When Finn smiled his whole face lit up. He smiled as much with his eyes as his mouth and his joy was infectious. The demon's grin was a lot darker, there was something lurking in his eyes and even as he smiled he still felt dangerous.

"It's good to see you again little lamb. You've already progressed beyond what _he_ could do months after finding me the first time."

"Yeah well, he also didn't have you to help him find his way either," she shot back feeling the need to defend Finn. He made a sound in the back of his throat that made her think he'd enjoyed her response.

"A little more feisty tonight, I like it, but you're right, he didn't."

"He also said that mine isn't the same as his."

"It's not. Something like me would have destroyed your innocence."

"I'm not innocent," she said remembering her and Finn's conversation from only a little while ago. The demon's smile turned devious.

"Not the same thing love, though just because you've been touched by some bumbling idiot doesn't mean you aren't innocent in that way either." The way he looked at her made heat flush in her veins, the electricity that buzzed along her skin in awareness of him became even more intense.

"I don't understand."

"You are magnificent. Sweetness and light wrapped around a core of steel. It's an innocence of the mind love, something rare that should be cherished and protected. As to the physical, while we are both angry that any man would not take care of you the way you deserve, it also means you still maintain much of your sexual innocence as well, and the man who gets the joy and privilege to give that to you will be a lucky man indeed."

She didn't know how to respond. His glowing appraisal of her left her feeling like she was floating, while his forthright discussion of her past sexual experiences was both embarrassing and at that same time made her feel a kind of nervous anticipation. She'd learned over the last two nights that the demon had no qualms about expressing his appreciation of her physically and that combined with the fact that he wore the face of her friend, a friend she'd only recently admitted to herself that she desired, made her feel overwhelmed and on edge. He was silent for a little while and then said,

"You're doing very well," and she realized that the whole time they'd been sitting there that she'd still had that door open in her mind. She knew that that was a good thing because eventually she would have to wrestle with it, and that would require her full concentration. She would need to be able to have that control without needing to focus on it all of the time. Now that she realized it though she could feel the strain.

She could see that the demon knew his time with her had come to an end for the evening and he told her to envision drawing it away slowly, and just as she'd controlled it's infusion of her body she now drew it away until it rested behind it's wall again. When she was comfortably herself, she looked up to see Finn's eyes staring back at her. He smiled softly and she gave into the urge before she could think it through too much and she reached out and hugged him. He hugged her back tightly and she said,

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, but you're a natural, I think you would have gotten it on your own in time."

"I'm not so sure of that, but either way I'm glad you're here to help."

"Me too," he paused, staring at her, but before the moment could get awkward he asked, "Do you wanna watch something and chill now?"

"I really should go back. Sasha's already been insuffereable. If I fall asleep again here tonight, she'll never let me live it down."

"Ah, come on, you can take a whole day of Karl at his worst, but you can't take a little shit from Sasha? I've really missed you lately. You've been so busy avoiding me so that you wouldn't have to deal with all of this, and I just want to spend time with you." His words and the pleading look he gave her made her feel extremely guilty.

"You play dirty," she said and he replied,

"I play to win. Please stay," and she knew she couldn't say no (and to be perfectly honest, she didn't want to.)

"Okay." He grinned at her. It was always nice to be reminded that he enjoyed her company and once again she felt guilty over how she'd avoided him. Once he'd got the movie going and settled back next to her on the bed she said,

"I'm sorry I avoided you. I was being a big ole' scaredy cat over all of this, it had nothing to do with you, you know that right?"

"I do. I think we've been friends long enough for me to know how you work, and I knew eventually you would come around. It's still nice to hear it though. I think for a minute I thought I'd really scared you off completely before I remembered that's how you deal with things."

"Yeah I'm not so great with facing stuff like that head on."

"Yeah you are. Just because you need a little time to process and wrap your head around it doesn't mean you're not good at it. I've seen your determination Bayley. No one has fire like you do once you set your mind to it." The demon's praise had made her feel like she was floating, but Finn's made her feel effervescent, sparkling and bubbling like sweet champagne. Her heart pounded and she wanted to kiss him. She didn't know how to respond, but then the characters on the screen distracted them and the moment passed.

...

She wasn't sure if you could call it accidental when they fell asleep again, after all she'd already acknowledged that that would most likely happen when she'd tried leave earlier in the night and they'd both silently assumed that they would when they'd laid down to watch the movie, but neither one really thought about the complications of the morning. They'd woken up similarly to the way they had the morning before with Finn curled around her, cuddling her against him, a position that was definitely not something most platonic friends would do. She let him take the lead though and he simply acted like it wasn't anything out of the normal. He nuzzled her neck again and told her she smelled good, and while she'd told him thanks absently, she was more preoccupied with willing herself not to reveal her body's reaction to the gesture. Heat had rushed through her veins, all of her was hyper-aware of just how good he felt against her, and when he released her to get up she had to fight the urge to protest.

There had definitely been some awkwardness over taking turns in the bathroom, but as always Finn had a way of laughing stuff off and she was glad he was the kind of person who knew how to not take himself too seriously. She'd managed to not miss her ride, and it almost made her sad that she wouldn't be spending the day with the guys especially with the way Sasha looked at her as his Finn hugged her goodbye, promising that he would see her later. Only Sasha surprised her and was strangely silent on the subject all day, saying nothing even when they parted again that night or the next day when they repeated their actions. She could tell her friend wanted to say something, and it wasn't like her to hold back, so she should have known that when she did speak it would be even worse. It was the following night when her and Sasha were hanging out in the hallway of the arena where they were finishing up the final show of the year that Sasha finally broke down.

Finn came up after he'd finished his segment and sat down in the floor next to them. Once the usual pleasantries were exchanged he asked her if she wanted to hang out again that night. There were a few others milling about in the hallway though it wasn't packed by any means and the conversation level was low enough that pretty much everyone heard when Sasha blurted out,

"Again?! Come on, do you two seriously expect anybody to believe you aren't fucking?" The low buzz of conversation went completely silent and Bayley felt the warmth on her cheeks as her whole face turned red and she yelled,

"Sasha!" Sasha at least had the grace to look embarrassed herself before she said in a much lower volume,

"I'm just saying. I don't care what you do if you're happy, but don't get annoyed with people for making assumptions. You're practically begging for it if you're gonna sleep in the same hotel room every night." Finn looked annoyed at her and said,

"Thanks Sasha." She wasn't sure how to interpret the look that Sasha gave him back, but he seemed to back down and let it go, instead he turned to her and told her he would see her later and got up and left.

A little while later when they were on there way out of the arena Sasha said,

"Don't be mad at me sister. I didn't mean to be so loud about it, but you both know I have a point."

"Yeah, but did you have to announce it to the entire roster?"

"The entire roster wasn't there."

"Yeah, but enough of them were that the entire roster will hear about it before tomorrow."

"I know. I'm sorry. You know I'm not always so great about thinking before I speak."

"No kidding," she replied before she sighed and said, "I love you Sasha even if you are a pain."

"Do you forgive me?" Sasha asked trying to look at her pitiful. She knew Sasha was putting on, but she couldn't stay mad at her friend.

"I guess." Sasha squealed and hugged her and she couldn't help but laugh then groan when Sasha said,

"So I have a favor to ask," Bayley looked at her incredulously and said,

"Really?"

"I kind of assumed you were going to stay with Finn tonight, and well I have a phone date with my husband, so this is me asking you _not_ to come back."

"You are something else, you know that right? I ought to come back just to pay you back for how loud you were earlier, but okay."

"Finn will be okay with it?

"Yeah. I almost came back the other night because I was sure you were gonna say something, but Finn kind of guilt tripped me into staying."

"How'd he do that?"

"He told me he missed me. Called me on the fact that I was avoiding him because I was scared of dealing with the demon."

"And you still don't think he's into you?"

"He's allowed to miss me as a friend without it being more than that you know."

"Yeah, yeah. I can't wait until I get to say I told you so."

"Whatever," she said as she got in the car and the subject was dropped as they switched to playfully arguing over the music.

* * *

Author's Note: Slightly short chapter this week, hope you enjoyed! Next up we get to see where Finn's thoughts are in all of this, and maybe a little update on the on screen storylines as well.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long to get this out. I've started doing wrestling fanart photo edits for Instagram, so I split my time now between writing and editing. I haven't stopped writing, but updates will probably be further apart from now on.

...

After Survivor Series Finn felt like he was stuck in a holding pattern. Bray seemed to be missing in action although nobody knew why and creative kept feeding him go-nowhere matches, seemingly just to pass the time. A Miz-less Miztourage tried to bother him, but they were easily dealt with, first in one on one competition and then eventually, just because they were being so annoying, he accepted a handicap match. While that wasn't quite as easy, he still managed to accomplish it, and when they tried to gang up on him after the match he got a nice surprise in an assist from an old buddy of his from NXT and Japan, Hideo. He was happy to share the spotlight with his friend for a moment, and a little sad that since his friend would be on 205 live, he wouldn't be working with him all that much.

Between the holidays, the tour in India, and the lack of a storyline he felt like he was in a holding pattern with Bayley too, and it was making him irritable. He knew she had to be just as frustrated as he was with creative because they'd been so heavily focused on Alexa and Asuka that the rest of the women's division was being ignored. They kept putting her and Sasha together in pointless tag matches, and while he knew the two friends loved to tag together, he also knew they'd both rather be reaching for a title. Bayley really hadn't talked to him about it though or talked to him much at all, and he really missed her in his life.

He was relieved when she finally approached him and was anxious to finally make some kind of progress with her, so he suggested she come by that evening to get started. He almost laughed when he opened the door that night to see her standing there in her typical brightly-colored attire. He loved that her clothing often reflected her bright and bubbling personality, but he hadn't quite expected it tonight knowing that they were trying to help her access a darker part of herself.

When he said something to her about it and she suggested she could go change he told her she could borrow one of his shirts. He had very fond memories of the times he'd seen her wearing his t-shirt before and was happy to have an excuse to see her in one again, only there was something different about it tonight. Seeing her wear his t-shirt for an in-ring segment was one thing, but seeing her in it barefoot in his hotel room was entirely different. Maybe it was because it wasn't just his t-shirt design, but his actual t-shirt, one he'd worn before, but it took every ounce of control he had not to say to hell with their original plans and instead do everything in his power to get it back off of her. He could feel the demon stirring as well, urging him to follow his instincts. Though communication between them wasn't like a conversation they could still in a way talk to each other and when she walked out of the bathroom the first thought that came to mind was that she was absolute perfection, only it had sounded a whole lot more like the demon than himself in his head. Not that he wasn't in complete agreement with his demon, but he also knew that helping her was important, that she needed it and he had to remind both himself and the demon of that fact.

He knew the demon had been anxious to finally speak to her, and he should have known that his demon would care a whole lot less than he did about avoiding any awkwardness between them. The demon hadn't hesitated to let her know that he wanted her, and though he'd obviously shocked her, at least he still managed to guide her as intended before he left Finn to deal with the consequences.

When she asked him about the demon's words to her he knew he had to make a decision. If he ever wanted more with her he couldn't keep allowing all of the little things to get swept under the rug just to keep the status quo. He knew he had to at least begin showing her some of what he felt, so he made the decision to be honest with her, to not hold anything back. He told her how beautiful he found her, and the way she'd looked at him when he said it made it more than worth the risk. The air between them was electric and he'd almost decided he was going to kiss her when she blurted out something random about watching a movie. For a second he was confused until the realization sunk in that she was nervous, that _he_ made her nervous, the good kind of nervous, the kind that told him he was back on the right path, and fuck if it didn't make him want to kiss her even more.

He knew then that he was going to make her his. He wasn't going to hold back anymore. He would show her with his actions how much she meant to him and how much he wanted her, show her that he could be trusted. And if she needed time to get comfortable he was okay with that. She was worth the wait.

...

Waking up with her in his arms was heaven. When he'd felt her head drift onto his shoulder the night before he hadn't been able to resist the urge to touch her, and he'd lightly ran his fingers through her hair, hoping it was light enough not to wake her. He thought she might have stirred at one point, but he wasn't sure and she never gave any sign that she was aware of his actions. When he'd felt himself tiring he'd turned off the TV and shifted their position so he could hold her, but he hadn't been able to imagine just how amazing it would be to wake up that way.

Remembering his vow not to hold back with her and also curious about how she would react, he didn't stop himself from giving into the demon's urge to nuzzle his face against her neck and inhale her scent. He was rewarded with her making a low hum in her throat, a sound that told him she'd enjoyed it and also made his blood run hot. He'd absently asked about the time and immediately regretted it when she'd jumped up panicky over how late they'd slept. He could feel the demon's displeasure along with his own over the loss of her in his arms, but he resigned himself to it as she'd already become absorbed in her phone, frantically texting Sasha. He got up after assuring her she could ride with them and started getting ready.

...

Karl Anderson was his best friend, they'd weathered a lot together throughout the years, and he was as close to being his brother as a man could be without actually being related, but if he didn't stop bothering Bayley he might just murder him. He'd come out of the bathroom after changing clothes to find his friend standing in the doorway. The look on Karl's face had told Finn exactly where his mind had gone, and he also knew him well enough to know he wouldn't just leave it alone. He'd been making great progress with Bayley and the last thing he needed was for Karl to scare her off. She surprised him though standing up for herself and not letting Karl run over her. He'd been blown away when she'd claimed she'd earned her membership, something he felt there really shouldn't be any question of after everything she'd done for him. He was happy to see his friend acknowledge it as well, and he couldn't resist touching her after that, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her. Unfortunately that also gave Karl another opportunity to tease them.

He spent most of the day feeling annoyed with his friends, but also so happy to have Bayley there that it was easy to let go of any irritation he felt, especially when she seemed to take the two of them and their antics in stride. He was reminded of how well she fit, and hoped they could make her presence among them a regular thing again.

When she fell asleep he enjoyed watching her as he conversed absently with his friends in the front. Karl glanced back at one point and when he realized she was't awake he said,

"On a serious note, what is going on with you two? I thought this whole thing was just supposed to be for the cameras."

"It was."

"But now it's not?"

"It's complicated, but no it's not, or at least I don't want it to be anymore."

"Are you going to do something about it then?"

"I'm working on it. It's not just me she has to deal with. The demon complicated things and high-jacked her control, and it really freaked her out. She's finally starting to come to terms with that, and I don't want to scare her off again." They both grimaced in sympathy. They had been with him when he'd discovered his demon and through the long and difficult journey to learn how to control it. They understood more than anyone what she was going through.

"Damn. Do you need us to lay off for real?"

"I was mad earlier, but I forgot that she knows how to handle you two like a pro, and if it doesn't bother her then I'll deal. Actually I may need your help. We started this whole thing for creative, and now when it's important they seemed to have lost interest. She belongs with me, with us. I'm not going to let them just let it go. I can't do anything about the on-screen part, but I _can_ make sure that the fans don't forget."

"Hey you know the good brothers are always with you. Whatever you need man."

"Just help with the social media and whenever we're around the fans. Make it clear she's a part of the club, I'll make sure they know that her place is right next to me."

They'd both assured him that they would help and any lingering irritation he might have felt was erased with the reminder that they always had his back when he needed it. They talked a little longer before he drifted away from the conversation, lost in thought. As the afternoon faded he glanced over to realize she was waking, but curiously as soon as she woke and saw him her face flushed pink. She'd just woken up and he couldn't think of what would cause such a reaction unless it had something to do with whatever she'd been dreaming about and he was extremely curious to know what that was. He hoped that maybe with the way things were going with them that it might have had something to do with him and he decided to tease her a little. He leaned close so only she could hear him(despite that fact that he'd admitted that Bayley could handle them didn't mean he was going throw her under the bus) and asked her. She'd been completely flustered and he'd been close enough that he didn't miss the shiver that went through her when he'd spoke into her ear, a fact he filed away for later. Unfortunately, Karl with his wonderful timing interrupted before he could get an answer and he'd had to let it go.

...

He loved teasing her and seeing her blush. It had been really nice to catch up with her when she came to his room that night, and he continued to keep to his vow to himself, not holding back in his thoughts or actions. He was rewarded with a completely honest conversation, one that had broached a few topics they'd never discussed before. He was happy she had gotten comfortable enough with him to talk so openly about sex and her past experiences. Of course that had resulted in an irrational desire to strangle any man who'd ever touched her and not treated her like the hidden gem that she was, but it had also given him a little glimpse of the possibility between them and made him ache to show her just how good they could be.

He knew he probably wasn't being very fair when he laid the guilt on her afterwards, but there was no way he was going to let her leave so soon, not after barely seeing her for weeks. He was grateful she obviously cared enough to feel guilty over avoiding him, but then he felt bad when he realized how much she took it to heart, seeing it as another weakness. She was one of the strongest people he'd ever met, and he tried to make sure she knew that before they settled in to watch a movie. She seemed a little more comfortable than she had the night before, and she didn't stiffen up when she ended up nestled against his side. He took a chance and put his arm around the back of her shoulders, letting gravity do the rest of the work as she fell even more against him until he was holding her completely. Her head drifted onto his shoulder and he was grateful for the circumstances that led them to this. She had no idea just how much she meant to him, but the last few days felt like they'd crossed some kind of hurdle and it no longer felt like a matter of if, but when she would be his.

...

Two nights later when he sought out Bayley to confirm their plans for the evening he inadvertantly set Sasha off on them. He knew she'd been fed up with them and the back and forth game they'd played for months now, but in her carelessness she'd drawn a lot of unwanted attention to his budding relationship with Bayley, and he'd wanted to strangle her. He'd always considered her a friend, and he knew how much she cared about Bayley, but he really wished that she and all of the rest of their friends would just stay out of it long enough for him to actually get somewhere with her. Now that Bayley had accepted the demon and that part of the connection between them he was certain there wouldn't be any more setbacks if everyone would just let them be, and the demon had been just as bad as Sasha and Karl. He'd been chomping at the bit for Finn to make some kind of move even though his actions were what had delayed everything in the first place, and he didn't seem to understand that his impatience and the added pressure didn't help the situation. Unfortunately as much as he wished the whole world would disappear so that it could just be the two of them he knew that wasn't possible. Just as the demon was an integral part of him that he couldn't escape from, he couldn't and wouldn't erase their friends out of their life either. He also couldn't be too mad at Sasha, after all Sasha had known how he felt for a while now, and she could have made things a lot more difficult if she'd wanted to. At least in the evenings he mostly got Bayley to himself, and the last few nights had been amazing getting to hold her all night.

It felt like he'd reached that point where he just couldn't wait any longer, and he'd made a promise to himself that he was going to do something (even if he wasn't sure what yet) before the year drew to a close. Since the next day was the last day of the year that deadline was rapidly approaching.


End file.
